National Science Foundation Awards Quantum Dot Company UbiQD SBIR Phase I Grant To Pursue Licensed Solar Energy Technology

The UbiQD team celebrates the opening of its new quantum dot manufacturing facility in Los Alamos, New Mexico July 29, 2016. From left, Board Members Dudley McDaniel and Colin Cumming, Director Karthik Ramasamy, Founder and President Hunter McDaniel, Board Member Katharine Chartrand, Director Aaron Jackson and Director Matt Bergren. Courtesy photo

BUSINESS News:

  • The grant is one of many recent developments for the expanding New Mexico-based company

UbiQD, LLC, a New Mexico-based quantum dot manufacturer, has been awarded a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant by the National Science Foundation.

The 12-month $225,000 award is intended to help fund research and development ofluminescent solar concentrating glass windowswith quantum dot coatings.

In July, the company expanded its license to include the proof-of-concept work on this technology, originally developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory, in collaboration with Italy’s University of Milano-Bicocca.

“It’s a privilege to receive an SBIR award through the National Science Foundation because it enables us to accelerate our growth and focus on a particularly large market opportunity for our low-hazard, low-cost quantum dot technology,” said Dr. Hunter McDaniel, founder and president of UbiQD. “Our vision is to turn ubiquitous, everyday windows into sunlight harvesters. Think of skyscrapers that power cities.” 

Until now, UbiQD has broadly explored potential markets for its patented technology, including lighting, security, design, and safety applications; earlier this month the company was issued a patent for “quantum dot security inks.” With this new award and other recent developments, however, the company will focus its efforts primarily on solar energy.

“This new investment will further important research at UbiQD to strengthen the intersection of solar energy and advanced materials such as nanoparticles,” said U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), in reference to the award and UbiQD’s focus on solar technologies. “It’s another great example of how technology developed at our national laboratories can spur industry and create jobs here at home. New Mexico, with its abundant solar resources, can and should be at the epicenter of America’s clean energy economy. I will continue to do all I can to ensure this becomes a reality.”

UbiQD’s new SBIR grant and technology license are just two of several recent milestones for the company, as they also recently brought on two new employees to the team — Dr. Karthik Ramasamy to lead manufacturing and Dr. Aaron Jackson to lead nanocomposite development.

UbiQD has filed several new patents this year, including one related to sunlight-harvesting safety glass windows. Previously based out of the New Mexico Consortium, in July UbiQD began operating from a newly renovated Los Alamos-based facility. The 9,000-square-foot space allows for scale-up of manufacturing and continued expansion.

About UbiQD, LLC
UbiQD is a nanotechnology company that manufactures inexpensive, low-hazard quantum dots and nanocomposites in Los Alamos, New Mexico. Quantum dots are particularly advantageous for many applications due to their bright and strongly size-tunable color of photoluminescence — they glow under light — and compatibility with liquid solution processing, which enables low-cost manufacturing techniques. Spun out of technology developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the company envisions a future where quantum dots are ubiquitous in a wide spectrum of applications. Today UbiQD supplies materials for development of new products in lighting, solar, security, safety, and other markets.

For more information, visit www.UbiQD.com.

Search
LOS ALAMOS

ladailypost.com website support locally by OviNuppi Systems